The Gods of Godsbane
The Gods of Godsbane A Brief Syllabus for Students of Theology, Theocracy, and Religion An Academy lecture course by Grandscholar Rodren of Heartwood for the Year of 1F4144 To deny the influence of divine forces both known and unknown in the world around us would be the height of all folly. Throughout the millennia, wars have been fought, plagues wrought, cities built, and nations founded all (either directly or indirectly) in the name of faith and divinity. One only needs to study the world around them or the history behind them for but the merest of moments to understand the monumental impact divine beings and fervorous faiths have had upon each and every one of us. Yet despite all of this, the pestilence of apathy seems to have an even greater power over all mankind than even the gods themselves do. Here we live, in a world where divine walk among us, yet one will be hard-pressed to find an average citizen who has given this notion much thought or consideration. Most of us are content to go about our day to day lives, worship our gods, and observe our religious festivals without so much as a second thought to why we believe what we believe and who the gods we worship actually are! As I hope you are coming to realize during your time here at the Academy, such thoughtlessness will not be tolerated within these halls. Ours is the pursuit of knowledge and the spirit of curiosity! For how can one assume to learn the world around them if they don’t question it? So, who are the gods? How many are there? What do they represent? Who are their followers? How have they shaped history? Where did they come from? Why should you care? All of this and more shall be addressed during your time here at the Academy, and while I understand this is a very controversial and heated area of debate for some, I would encourage you to keep an open mind. Because, once again, you cannot learn if don’t question even what you already believe to be correct! But we cannot begin our studies without addressing the basics. Some of you may already have the knowledge of everything presented in this syllabus, some of you may not. Either way, the following information will be vital in your coursework over the following years, so study! And study well! The Pantheons While not a perfect categorical system, we nevertheless tend to organize all of the gods into their respective pantheons in an attempt to better understand their character and motivations. It should be noted however that all (save perhaps one) of the gods are human, and are therefore perfectly capable of changing their minds, motives, and dispositions at any given moment and have indeed done so in the past. It is therefore vital to not become overly systematic in the organization of the respective pantheons. Most pantheons are subject to change at any given moment as divine emotions wax and wane, though for the most part they have remained the steady for many years on end. While the concept of a fluid pantheon system may sound simple to many of you, it is vital to remember and not lose sight of! To adamantly insist on a static pantheon system is to consider the gods to be be flat, dull, and unchanging archetypes. You must remember: they are human. They have just as much emotion, thought, and subtle nuances as you or I, likely more so. Lastly, is it important to note that the naming convention of the pantheons was derived from a Creator God (or Beyren’s Lord) worldview. Whatever your individual views on the issue, this influence cannot be denied. The Creator God The Creator God (also known as the True God, the Absent Almighty, the Just One, the Great Deliverer, the Hellwind Bringer, and Beyren’s Lord) is unique among all other instances of the divine. He is attributed to no pantheon as he is, in essence, his own pantheon in and of himself. He is also the most enigmatic and controversial of the gods. Unlike the rest, he does not walk among mankind, he cannot be seen by mankind, and there is arguably no quantifiable way to prove his existence. He is the patron god of the Beyrenian people and, according the the Beyrenian worldview, lives is utterly unimaginable glory outside the bounds of the mortal world, in the heavens of his own creating. The Beyrenian people believe him to be the source and sustainer of all things, including the other gods themselves. It is then easy to understand why the Beyrenian religion has become a point of heated debate, sensitivity, and strong objection in recent years. According to the religion’s creation account, the Creator God crafted together mankind and gave them gift of magic. Among all the various types of magic the greatest was divinity magic, which several royal lords and ladies quickly learned and used to facilitate their own selfishness, setting themselves up as gods. The power corrupted and cursed them, subjugating mankind into a forced worship of their newly ascended peers. Immediately after their betrayal, the Creator God fled the world, lest his purity consume and destroy mankind on account of their faults. He has not been seen since, and so has not walked the world since the middle years of the Unfallen Age. According to the Beyrenian people, he still communes on rare occasions with the priests of Beyren in order to provide insight, wisdom, and instruction to the nation. Whether or not he is real, and indeed, whether or not he is benevolent, is a matter still hotly contested and debated even today. Many people (even several within the Beyrenian religion itself) insist that he is infact not holy, but immensely apathetic and uninterested in such things as petty as human existence. Purporters of this belief insist that he merely created the world as a display of might and now sits distant from the life he created, neither caring for nor paying attention to the happenings of mankind. However, whatever the true case, one cannot deny the immense cultural impact the concept of the Creator God has had throughout every facet of our world. The Regretful Gods The Regretful Gods are easily the most universally cherished and respected of all the pantheons. Across nearly every culture, nation, and people group, it is nearly impossible to happen upon a single individual who hasn’t at least the smallest shred of respect or affection for the Regretful. The Regretful are benevolent beings on the whole and favor spending their time aiding those in need, and enriching the lives of their people. They are known to move about the continent as particularly dire needs arise, but for the most part they spend their time in their respective city states, tending to the needs of healing, education, and provision. They humble themselves even to the point of submission to mortal authorities, provided that the governing powers are themselves wholesome, well intended, and of noble reput. The Regretful make no attempts to insert themselves into the politics or rule of their respective cities excepting cases in which they take it upon themselves to remove a ruler who is found to have become greedy, selfish, or in any other sense unfit for rule. Each of the Regretful live in a simple unmarked building in the outskirts of their respective cities, leaving their homes open to those in need. Many even take to working the land during the day, alongside the people of the city. Though it is rarely known to occur, the Regretful will on rare occasion retreat to a simple but vast fortress in the lower mountains of northeastern Heartwood, a building they refer to as “The Hall of Penance”. No one knows what transpires as they gather together in the Hall, but they usually vanish for years, or sometimes decades at a time. It is speculated that they gather to reflect on their lives and their actions, to ensure they remain on a selfless path untainted by their past sins. The title of “The Regretful” comes (as previously mentioned) from the Beyrenian worldview. Indeed, about half of the Regretful themselves purport to be followers of the Creator God. According to this worldview, the Regretful formed years after the Creator God fled the world. After bearing witness to the endless pain, suffering, and death that mortals were forced to endure due to the sin of their gods, a portion of the gods eventually broke in spirit, burdened by the guilt and shame that forever plagued them. They came to realize that, though gods, they were also sinners, and that sin had come with a cost and had caused mankind to suffer needlessly. They then confessed their sins amongst themselves, one to another, and vowed that from that moment onwards they would strive to serve, protect, and care for the mankind they had cursed. They vowed to pay their penance. This worldview is not particularly popular, as most suspect the Regretful have merely conjured up the story of the Creator God to further pull attention away from themselves and their efforts, thereby placing them in a position of unrestrained humility. Most believe that all of the gods together created the world and then proceeded to fabricate the legend of a singular Creator God to draw mankind’s attention away from their own involvement with creation. Adherents of this worldview claim the Regretful adopted their title as a show of sorrow, a sign that they regret being unable to create a pure world devoid of suffering. So do the Regretful truly believe that they themselves were created by an even higher creator, or is it a clever story to draw praise and attention away from themselves? We may never know, but if you ever happen to find yourself in their cities, by all means, go and ask! The Regretful, in their current count, number 5: Alsta (The Mother) Daughter of Josthyr, Alsta is most well known for her passion and care of the orphaned, disabled, and needy children. At any given point she is usually personally raising several parentless or abandoned children, teaching them to walk in the ways of the Regretful and the Creator. Rystan (The Provider) Rystan is usually viewed as the leader of the Regretful, though he has repeatedly rejected the title. He tends to concern himself most with the poor and destitute. He has been known to build entire villages for those without a place to call home. He takes it upon himself to feed the hungry and clothe the naked wherever he goes. Cirric (The Counselor) Cirric centers the majority of his focus on the fields of wisdom and advice. To lovers, enemies, kings, peasants, and warriors alike he offers his counsel. His well of knowledge draws from his thousands of years of life experience. He often works together with his daughter, Mavorya. Syll (The Healer) While she used to aid her sister, Alsta, with the needs of children and orphans, Syll has turned her attention to healing in recent centuries as the continued magical dilution has limited healers to mundane and less effective means. Mavorya (The Teacher) Mavorya’s intellect is beyond what we shall ever know and she devotes her life to the spreading of knowledge and education. Though many may not like to admit it, she even helped to construct this very Academy and has generously provided us with interviews on multiple occasions. However, she much prefers roaming the streets of the impoverished and instructing children and adults alike in the way of the scholar. The Bitter Gods The Bitter Gods provide a remarkably stark contrast to their Regretful brethren. For the most part the Bitter are in equal parts hated and feared by the citizens of Godsbane, and for very good reason. Most of them are not content to remain in any one city for any considerable length of time as it doesn’t particularly suit their interests and pursuits. They concern themselves not with the attention, opinions, or affections of mankind, but rather whatever matter of havoc and suffering they might wreak upon hapless mortals. They revel in chaos, pain, and death. Most of their efforts are spent travelling the land, undoing any and all good put in place by the Regretful and shattering the lofty ideals and achievements of mankind. This has of course lead to many conflicts and battles over the years between the two pantheons. The Bitter’s following is unsurprisingly small and dispassionate. The majority of those who worship the Bitter do so out of manipulation, blackmail, and threats of violence. “Fealty” and “worship” are unfair words to appropriately describe the actions and mindsets of those who are forced to follow the Bitter, one would be more correct to instead describe such a situation as “subjugation” and “slavery”. This is a generalization however and it should be noted that, while rare, there is still a significant number who follow the Bitter with sincere and honest hearts, offering up their lives and bodies to perform the work of spreading chaos throughout mankind. There are also those who seek out the thin and tenuous “protection” of the Bitter as a display of utter desperation, having nowhere else to turn and no one else to rely on. While this may sound particularly bleak, one should note that there have been multiple instances of infiltrators playing acolyte. That is to say, there is alway the occasional bold individual who joins into the service of the Bitter with the intent of disassembling the system from within. This is a very risky practice, and one that has been met with success only once, when a large group of infiltrators managed to rally nearly every single one of the Bitter’s following to rise and turn against the very gods they followed. The Bitter gather and formulate their schemes from within Spite’s Rest, a large, lavish, and imposing structure to the west of Wekela. Mortal servants are free to enter within the halls of Spite’s Rest, but to do so is to ensure one will never again enjoy the outside world, as any mortals who attempt to leave are immediately slaughtered. Due to this severe cost of entry, it’s location within the thickly rainforested mountains, and the general attitude towards the Bitter, it is little surprise that not much is known about this divine meeting place. According to Beyrenian worldview, the title that “The Bitter” bear originated after the Creator God fled the world. Their particular group of divine grew hateful, indignant, and embittered at the thought that their Creator had simply abandoned them, leaving them cursed and helpless with no sense of direction and meaning. In their own eyes they were pure and blameless, and to be told by their creator that they were sinful and flawed before being abandoned altogether was too much for them to bear. So they vowed to exact their vengeance upon the Creator God by destroying and perverting all that he had deemed good and right. Thus, their path of chaos began. On the contrary to the Beyrenian worldview, many suspect they call themselves the Bitter as a display of irritation and frustration. According to this theory, after the gods had gathered together to create the world, those that would come to be known as the Bitter looked around to consider the world that they had made. They were met with disappointment, seeing an impure and broken world. Thus they grew bitter and dissatisfied with their own creation and vowed to tear it asunder so that they might no longer have to bear witness to their own shortcomings. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your worldview, they have not yet been successful. The Bitter, in their current count, number 6: Aithev (The Defiler) Aithev is as crude as he is simple. He seeks to break humanity through shattering it’s dignity. It is very likely that any mortals who cross his path will find themselves raped and defiled. He even has an avid subsect of mortal followers to whom he grants the right to seek out and rape kinsmen as they see fit. Shilris (The Corruptor) While the Bitter generally operate independently and have no real system of hierarchy, one could argue that Shilris tends to act as the group’s leader. He strives for the corruption of mankind, turning mortals’ minds against themselves, planting false thoughts, and eventually driving them to insanity. Kryth (The Murderer) Kryth’s goals are as simple as they come: to end mankind through murder. She used to hunt down mankind personally, reveling in their death. And while she still does on occasion, in recent years she has found more enjoyment by sending out other mortals to commit murder on her behalf. Rinia (The Torturer) For many, Rinia is the most terrifying of the Bitter. She is the most collaborative out of the group, usually taking any victims who have managed to survive the onslaught of her peers. She then subjects them to unimaginable torture, keeping them alive for years or decades on end. Ecsyn (The Infector) Ecsyn’s work in bringing plague, famine, and sickness upon the world is so absolute and widespread that it is nearly impossible to discern whether any given disease is a natural occurrence or one of his handiwork. Many scholars speculate that the countermeasures of the Regretful is the only reason Ecsyn’s craft has not yet managed to eliminate mankind. Josthyr (The Betrayer) According to Beyrenian worldview, Josthyr is the same ancient divine king who launched the initial rebellion against the Creator God, thus bringing sin into the world. He is the most independent of the group, and spends the majority of his time manipulating mortals to turn against one another, though he has tried to lead fellow Bitter to betray each other on more than one occasion. The Weary Gods When it comes to the culture of the divine, no pantheon is more prolific, more controversial, or more active than the Weary Gods. They are volatile and unpredictable beings chasing after whatever pursuits intrigue or entertain them at any given moment. Some seek after the attention and praise of mortals, others seek after the praise and respect of their fellow gods from across all pantheons, and yet others merely seek after interests and hobbies. Yet at the core of their pursuits, the Weary are endeavoring towards the same end: keeping themselves entertained and content. Whereas the Regretful’s purpose is found in aiding mankind and the Bitter’s is found in shattering mankind, the Weary are defined by their unique propensity to simply not concern themselves about mankind. Indeed their pursuits and projects may involve mortals, and indeed the Weary have worked alongside mortals on several occasions, but in the end it is not the mortals that the Weary care for. It is themselves. They have, over the course of several millennia, grown bored and weary of the world around them. Therefore, all of their efforts are spent exhausting new avenues of entertainment and distraction. Theirs is the pursuit of merriment. Unlike the Regretful and the Bitter, the Weary have no one location where they convene to formulate plans. They are the most independent of all the pantheons, as they are not gathered together under one united goal, but rather each one chases after his own idea of meaning and amusement. This by no means implies that they are reclusive and individualistic gods. Indeed, to the contrary! The Weary are well known to visit and enjoy each other’s company, much more so than any of the other gods. While these occasions may end up as a source of great revelry, it is not rare for these to also become occasions of great destruction and chaos. Often during these celebrations and escapades, that which mankind cherishes is trampled or maimed in the wake of their merriment. It is not unheard of for towns to set up guard or evacuate if multiple Weary gather nearby. Those who worship the Weary are as varied in their aspirations as the Weary are themselves. Unlike those who worship the Regretful or the Bitter, there is no grand religion or following of worshippers who pledge their service to the entire pantheon as a whole. Instead, most followers dedicate themselves to just one or two of the Weary, whichever one most suits their fancy. As a contrast to the solid widespread universal religions of the Bitter and Regretful, the religion of the Weary is splintered, with dozens of sub-religions branching out from underneath it. Many refer to the following of the Weary as “the cults of all colors”. The title of “The Weary” is a relatively straightforward moniker that is supported by all worldviews and bears no controversial ties to the Beyrenian creation account. The Weary were those who took a middle ground after the great split of the divine. While the Regretful sought to restore mankind and the Bitter sought to destroy it, the remaining gods saw neither as a task in which they particularly cared to invest their time and efforts. They saw the world not as a mistake in need of restoration or destruction in order to be set right. Instead they saw the world as something stunningly beautiful and wondrous in it’s broken and flawed state. From their point of view, the flaws of the world came from an intermingling of brokenness and beauty. In the eyes of the Weary, to restore the world to an entirely pure state would be the destruction of flaws, and thereby the creation of a static and predictable world. The world in it’s current state is a volatile and ever-changing playground of potential. Without the world as it is, the Weary would have no carnal pleasures in which to chase. So, one could make the argument that the Weary themselves are worshippers of the world. The Weary, at their current count, number 10: Nys (The Reveler) Nys is perhaps one of the most polarizing of the Weary. She delights herself in revelry and festivity of all kind and usually arrives unannounced to whatever city or village suits her fancy and proceeds to instigate large, loud, and boisterous parties. While many enjoy the sudden merriment, many also loathe the practice as it leaves to town and it’s people in shambles the following day. Barzus & Thraym (The Twins) Barzus and Thraym are very close twin brothers and have never once been separated from each other in recorded memory. They focus their attention on the craft of physical prowess. They are most well known for founding the massive city-arena, Glory’s Forge, where they decided to settle down a few hundred years ago. Within the arena they spar with each other in order to hone each other’s skills. They do not, however, train for the purpose of warfare. Their interests are merely for sport. Indeed they even allow any mortals who wish to hone their combative skills to spar against them, though they never deliver anything more than moderate injuries which they heal immediately after the battle. Barzus prefers the means of melee weaponry and bladesuits, whereas Thraym favors ranged weaponry. Wystere (The Beauty) Wystere’s goals lie in unlocking the secret of pure and perfected beauty. She is widely recognized as perhaps the most attractive being in the world, though she herself is never content with her appearance, which she changes on a regular basis. It is not uncommon for her to seek out and murder exceptionally beautiful mortals. And she has attacked other goddesses who proved a threat on multiple occasions to mar their beauty. Obrisia (The Bard) Obrisia is widely acknowledged to possess the most beautiful and melodious of all singing voices in the world, and her musical skill in unparalleled. In some cases her beautifully haunting melodies are so exquisite that they have been known to drive people mad. It is also thanks to Obrisia that we have many of the instruments that we do today, as many are of her own invention. Idreon (The Wanderer) Idreon is rarely seen by mankind as he spends his days wandering the world in pursuit of adventure. It is not uncommon for him to take a group of mortal adventurers with him on his journeys. It is thanks to him that we have many of the maps that we do, indeed the most detailed and reliable maps that we use today are of his own making as he’s travelled to and fro. Rumors are that he left the continent roughly a decade ago to chart the unexplored far side of the globe, but has not yet returned. Selkath (The Drunkard) Selkath is a lover and brewer of all types of spirits and liquor. Whenever he is not being a boisterous drunkard and participating in Nys’ revelries, he busies himself in his attempts to craft the perfect alcoholic beverage. His handiwork is known to instantly intoxicate mortals with but the smallest of sips, and can lead to death if anything more than but a few sips is consumed. Other concoctions of his have been known to leave mortals intoxicated for days and even weeks after consumption. Ystryd (The Seductress) Ystryd, while not possessing the level of beauty as Wystere, is still undeniably stunning, a fact that she uses along with her persuasive tenacity to seduce both mortals and gods alike. Kings, queens, peasants, priests, warriors, gods, and goddesses alike have fallen to her charm. She pursues the perfection of her craft, inventing new methods of seduction and intimacy. Lithria (The Artist) Lithria devotes her time and efforts into perfecting all mediums of artistry. Sculpting, painting, mosaics, bas reliefs, wood burning - whatever form of artistic expression you can think of, you can be sure Lithria has mastered it. She is constantly innovating upon her previous methods and spends most of her time in Lyrios’ Grand Artisanal District. Vymith (The Gambler) Vymith enjoys nothing more than the sharpening of wit through the practice of strategy and has therefore committed his time and efforts into crafting games and puzzles of all kinds. He is most well known for his gambling, which he does not for the money, but for the mental exercise. It is said he keeps all his winnings to himself and has vowed to give away every single coin of it to any mortal who can best him. The Dead Gods The Dead Gods have arguably had the largest cultural impact upon our world. Not only have they affected mankind and it’s history in life, but in death they have altered culture more than any god yet living. It is likely, being a student of the Academy, that you are familiar with the concept of Corruption, so I will not delve deeply into such matters here. Although, if you desire more information on the subject I would highly recommend you to read the work of my colleague, Grandscholar Darylias, who has written extensively on the subject of Corruption and racial studies. Yet, for the sake of our studies here, the process of Corruption warrants a brief mention. According to Beyrenian beliefs, the gods were cursed with eternal life after betraying the Creator. They would live forever, cursed to witness the consequences of their actions plague mankind for millennia on end. As an act of combined grace and judgement, the Creator provided only one way out of the curse: any god seeking death would need to pass their burdens and sins upon mortal recipients. These mortal recipients must be willing recipients of the dying god’s essence, otherwise the Corruption will not be met with success. Those outside of the Beyrenian worldview believe that many of the gods simply grow to feel overwhelmingly exhausted of the flawed world they created, and therefore seek to be released from what they now view as a prison. Whichever viewpoint one adheres to, the cost and gravity of such a situation cannot be denied. Whenever a Corruption occurs, the god in question vanishes from the world, never to be seen again. Death arrives in all of its finality and the god withers away as he casts his burdens and sins upon the mortals waiting to receive it. This process is not kind upon the mortal body, as it is not something the mortal human body was designed to withstand. According to historical records, it is an extraordinarily painful process to endure and is usually only accepted by the remaining zealous followers of the suicidal god, or those who are in the most dire of all hopeless situations with absolutely no other place to turn. This logic is due to the fact that new traits are usually inherited during the Corruption and occasionally these traits can be beneficial adaptations to the surrounding environment. It is a risky gamble, but one that appeals to the desperate. The process of Corruption disfigures and reforms the body in unpredictable and chaotic ways as mortality struggles to process divine burdens, rewriting human physiology and appearance into something altogether different and bizarre. Thus new races are born, products of a god’s death, the physical legacy of all that remains. Other races are all we have to remember the Dead Gods before their mortal assisted suicide. Indeed, other races are the only proof we have that a god is truly dead. For there cannot be a new race without a divine death, and there can’t be a divine death without the subsequent creation of a new race. The Dead, in their current count, number 7: Revas (Unconfirmed - Former Regretful) While his fellow Regretful insist that he has sacrificed himself roughly 40 years ago for a small people group dying of illness in the far south of Milada, little evidence exists to support claims of Revas’ death. Several expeditions have since been lead into the bamboo groves of Milada in an attempt to find the new resultant race, but with no success. Expeditioners have either returned empty handed or not at all. It is entirely possible that the new race, if small enough, simply died out before any trace of them could be found. Trenth (Former Regretful) His death has resulted in the subsequent creation of the Shulra, also commonly referred to as Mirelings. Karstom (Former Bitter) His death has resulted in the subsequent creation of the Rajrek, also commonly referred to as Tribe Folk. Ilenya (Former Weary) Her death has resulted in the subsequent creation of the Brysth, also commonly referred to as Stone Striders. Eslea (Former Weary) Her death has resulted in the subsequent creation of the Osyla, also commonly referred to as the Brittle Folk. Kaslilth (Former Weary) His death has resulted in the subsequent creation of the Vassat, also commonly referred to as Locusts. The Hidden Gods The Hidden Gods are a theoretical pantheon that has become a source of lively debate among scholars over the past few centuries, but even more so in recent years. The logic behind this theoretical pantheon supposes that no one can ever be entirely sure that all the gods we see and know are indeed the only gods that walk this world. No one is entirely sure how many gods inhabited the world in the Unfallen age, so it is not unreasonable to assume there may yet be gods that we as mortals have not yet met, lurking in the shadows and hiding out of sight, away from the prying eyes of civilization. Proponents of the Hidden Gods theory claim this would explain the many supernatural occurrences that seem to have no logical connection to any known god. They theorize that perhaps these gods have no interest whatsoever in the world around them, both mortal and divine alike, and choose instead to live out their lives in total isolation, cut off from any other living soul. Critics, however, are quick to remind us that even the gods themselves have repeatedly claimed to have no knowledge of any other divine beings roaming the world. Others point out that while there may indeed have been a considerably larger divine population in ages past, there is nothing to say that many of them didn’t simply pass into the Dead pantheon unbeknownst to anyone else, and the corrupted race that they spawned simply died out, leaving no traces of the said gods behind. A Dead God lost to history. Despite extensive research, expeditions, and the interviews of the gods themselves, there has yet to be any reasonable evidence to support such a theory. Though if such a concept were to be true, it would have staggering implications and raise even more questions in need of answers. Why are they hiding? What are they doing? Where have they been? What motivates their decisions? Such exciting possibilities, however slim the chances, is why we study the world around us as scholars here at the Academy! I hope in due time you will come to appreciate this fact as you immerse yourselves within your studies during your time here. Conclusion I thank you for displaying a vested interest and curiosity in the world around us, as well as a desire to hone the discipline of scholarship. What you have just read is but the beginning! Over the course of the following years we shall explore, in great detail, the vast and colorful history of the gods and those who worship them. I hope you find this course to be enlightening and productive, and I wish you the greatest of luck! I look forward to having you as my pupils here at the Greystone Academy!